I'm a Cover Girl!

Exciting news!  Sue here.  I'm honored and thrilled to announce that my quilt, "Red Bird and Berries", is on the cover of the summer issue of Quilting Arts magazine!  

It is a detail of the full quilt which appears in the Invitational Readers Challenge published in this issue.  Below is an image of the full quilt.

The Invitational Challenge was a special challenge to artists who have been published in Reader Challenges in the last 2 years.  There was no particular theme, just submit your best work.  The piece includes cyanotype prints, indigo dyeing using shibori techniques, thermofax printing, machine and hand stitching.  I was thrilled to be selected to be published; never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate being selected for the cover!  

There is a page up on the Quilting Daily website with more info about the summer issue and there is also a video interview I did with Kristine Lundblad, Managing Editor of Quilting Arts.  Digital copies of the magazine are available now at the link above or print copies will be available on newsstands June 18.  If you have a subscription, your copy should arrive about mid-month.  Looks like lots of great articles to dive into.  Enjoy!

Published!

 

One of Sue's bucket list items was to publish an article in Quilting Arts magazine, and she accomplished that goal with the summer 2023 issue of Quilting Arts, available now in digital format or on newsstands June 13.  Subscription copies will arrive in mailboxes by the 13th.  The article illustrates her process for using Thermofax prints to create fusible appliques.  While the idea for this article floated around in her head for a while, when finally submitted, she was pleasantly surprised to find it quickly accepted.

Without giving too much away (pick up a copy of the magazine!), it features the coneflower quilt below.  This full-size photo of the quilt does not actually appear in the issue - just smaller, partial images and step-outs.  

The issue also features a cover contest.  There were 161 entries for the contest which were winnowed down to 7 finalists before choosing Kate Themel's "As You Set Out" quilt below.

There are intriguing articles in this issue - can't wait to sit down with the paper copy when it arrives!  If you have any questions about the article or process, contact us at pgfiber2art@gmail.com.

Quilting Arts TV

Are you familiar with Quilting Arts TV? As a long-time subscriber to Quilting Arts magazine and owners of many DVDs on various quilting and surface design techniques, we're happy to report that it is now possible, depending on where you live, to view current episodes on public broadcasting television. If you cannot find it showing in your area, you can also subscribe to the online version, or choose to purchase a particular series that you may be interested in.  Which brings us to the most recent series, season 2900.  The shows are hosted by Susan Brubaker Knapp, and she is joined by Vivika Hansen DeNegre to share artwork from the Quilting Arts community. 

Series 2900 includes segments with 11 quilt artists including Lea McComas, Margaret Abramshe, Luana Rubin, and Denise Labadie with topics ranging from color to surface design to applique. A unique feature in this season appears at the end of every episode, called Finishing Touches.  Here Susan and Vivika chat about several pieces from the Quilting Arts community that were submitted to the magazine's Readers Challenges.  

Sue has participated many times in the challenges and has had several pieces selected to be published.  In early 2022, past participants were invited to submit to a special challenge just for those whose work was previously published, and the selected pieces are the ones featured in Finishing Touches.  

Sue was delighted to see her piece "Serendipity" featured at the end of episodes 4 and 11, and to hear the comments and discussion between Susan and Vivika regarding her quilt.  

This piece evolved from an "ugly" hand-dye that was overdyed in indigo and became the result you see here, thus the title "Serendipity". The official description of the process is as follows:

Indigo fixes everything!  This quilt started with a rather ugly hand dyed fabric that looked like a brown and white spotted cow.  Last summer my friend and I had an indigo pot going so I decided to overdye it in hopes of improving it.  After accordion folding and clamping plexiglass circles on the outside, it went in the pot.  The outside layers directly under the circles came out great, but the middle was still uninteresting.  So, I cut off strips of the circles, refolded the rest and dipped it in the indigo pot again.  Voila!  Now it looked like art.  I added an original design Thermofax spiral print on the brown circles and echoed the circles across the center, doing all the quilting with hand stitch.  

The photos above show the original ugly fabric, results after 1 dip in the indigo pot, and final configuration after a second dip in the indigo.  It was a great exercise in creativity and "going with the flow" of unpredictable results.  

Above is a detail shot of the finished piece.

If you're not yet or haven't recently been a watcher of Quilting Arts TV, please check it out.  There are so many interesting techniques featured and so much to learn from the Quilting Arts community!

Words of Wisdom

Quilting Arts magazine presents a Reader Challenge in each issue, asking readers to submit quilts of a specified size that show the reader's interpretation of a particular theme.  The challenge in the February/March issue for publication in the August/September issue was "Words of Wisdom" - a quilt based on a favorite quote or words of advice that guided their life.  Sue has participated in these challenges before, having several small quilts selected for publication.  This time, however, she was not as fortunate as the finalists were announce last week and her entry was not one of the 8 selected.  However, she likes her piece and feels it is worth sharing her quilt and process in this forum. 

Her piece is based on a quote by Martin Luther: "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."  This was a sentiment that spoke to her, especially in the light of the current state of political affairs in the U.S. and the world, and fits with her word of the year - positivity.  She visualized an image of the world topped by an apple tree, and set out to create that image in cloth.  The finished size requirement for this challenge was 8 1/2" by 11".

With the exception of the tree, all the fabrics are some of Sue's hand dyes.  The sky background is a shibori piece.  All design elements are original drawings.  The earth and tree were fused on top of the background.

Then apples were added to the tree.

Satin stitching was used to secure the continents, and free motion stitching on the tree, branches and leaves.  The quote was printed on ExtravOrganza ink-jet printable sheets and fused in place.  (ExtravOrganza is a Jacquard product.)

Our Thermofax crackle screen was used to print over the earth to depict it cracking/falling apart.  Quilting in the sky was added.

Some hand stitching was added to the apples for highlight and to secure the fusing, and the whole piece was faced for a clean finish.  While it may not have been selected for the magazine, Sue is happy with the finished piece and will enjoy seeing it on the design wall.

Fabulous Fabric Swap Revisited

Back in October, Sue posted about the Quilting Arts Fabulous Fabric Swap  and the fabric she received in this magazine sponsored fabric exchange.  Today, she received a note that the recipient of her fabric had done a blog post on the swap.  Her name is Ann Scott and her blog post can be found here.  A selection of the swap fabrics were published in the current (December/January) issue of Quilting Arts. 

In the photo below, Ann's fabric is on the bottom left.

A selection of the dyed and surface designed fabrics were published in the magazine.

Fabulous Fabric Swap

Last year Sue participated in several Reader Challenges with Quilting Arts magazine, and even had a few pieces published.  Circumstances have not allowed her to participate this year until the June/July issue contained a Reader Challenge to share a fat quarter of surface designed fabric.  Wow, this is what we do, so she set out to create a submission. The fabric had to start out white - from there it could be dyed, painted, printed, have multiple techniques applied.  A selection of the submitted fabrics will be published in the December 2016/January 2017 issue.  In addition, each challenge participant received a fat quarter created by another reader/artist.  This week Sue received her swap piece, as well as an email from the person who received her piece.

This is the piece Sue submitted.  It was dyed with a shibori technique - pole wrapping - and then printed with our birds on a branch screen.  Her piece was received by Ann L. Scott of Fiber Designs by Ann.  She sent a very kind and complementary email about the fabric.  Wow, Sue was blown away by Ann's work when she looked at her website!  You have to go take a look!  Sue was very flattered that Ann liked her fabric, after seeing the work that she creates.  Most everything featured hand painted fabric used in art and landscape quilts and mixed media work.  She also has a series of mixed media pieces that combine photography and quilting - absolutely gorgeous!

Above is the piece Sue received in the swap.  It came from a reader/artist in Switzerland.  Unfortunately Sue is unable to connect to the blog address that was provided.  This piece is also screen printed - in fact the screen looks similar to our tree bark and crackle screens.  The technique is interesting in that part is done with paint and part (we think) is discharge.  Could be an idea to try in the future.

The swap was fun and we look forward to seeing the pieces selected for publication when the next issue arrives!

Sew Many Options!

Determining the placement of the applique leaves on Sue's "Falling Leaves" quilt may seem like a simple task, but she went through lots of options before settling on the final arrangement.  While working, Sue frequently takes pictures of the work in progress to get a more objective view - hence, all these pictures!

 These first 3 seemed to produce confusion rather than a focal point.

Better; the orange strip on the left serves to "anchor" the 3 leaves.  But the angle of the top one is wrong.

Having them point all the same direction looks better, but still kind of boring.

Finally, reversing the direction of the center leaf was the right combination.  Focal point created.  Next, to do something about the bland green background.

Improvisational Design

How do you design your art quilts?  Do you draw or sketch first and make a pattern?  Do you have a mental image that you work toward creating, but not a specific plan?  Do you start with a basic idea and let it build from there?  Sue says she more or less falls into the last category and calls her method improvisational design.  Sometimes it involves sketching, other times just a mental vision.  She will start putting pieces together, and let it evolve from there.  Was there a plan for her recent "Falling Leaves" quilt?  Not at all!  In fact, after the background was created, she went through many options before deciding on the final arrangement.  Here's a look at how it evolved.

Two pieces of fabric formed the basis for this 8 x 10 piece - both were printing samples with fall leaves.  Time was short, so starting with already printed fabrics helped speed the process, and use up a small bit of the stash.

After layering with fusible fleece, the orange sections were quilted with matchstick quilting, a technique she had seen and wanted to try.  Then the leaf areas were free motion quilted.

Next came determining a focal point.  You might think that should come sooner, and perhaps it should, but it didn't in this case.  One choice considered was adding a bird, but the scale was off and it didn't really relate, so sticking with the fall leaf theme, Sue turned to leaf images she had for screen printing.  In order to add variety, she chose a pin oak leaf that was not in the background fabrics and decided to make it in 3 different sizes.

The leaves were printed on hand dyed fabrics in black, had fusible web applied to the back, and then were cut out to make appliques.

Then came the next challenge - how to arrange them on the background!  Who knew there were so many options?  Tomorrow, a look at the many choices.

Published! Autumn Leaves Reader Challenge

Sue is happy to reveal (now that it's published) her submission to the Quilting Arts Autumn Leaves reader challenge!  In fact, it was one of 3 quilts from the October/November issue that was in the running for the cover.  Although not chosen for the cover, it was still a great honor to be considered, and to be in great company with the likes of Susan Brubaker Knapp who created the goldfish quilt that appears on the cover. 

There's a small thumbnail of my quilt on page 6, and the full size picture on page 59. 

Here's a photo of the quilt itself, easier to see than the magazine photo. Click on it for a larger view.

It is made from hand dyed fabrics that are screen printed (actually printing samples from teaching), with 3 printed & fused applique leaves.  Lots of hand stitching in the background and on some of the leaves, as well as a blanket stitch on the binding.   It went through several iterations before settling on the final arrangement, but Sue is pleased with the result and thrilled that the editors at QA liked it too!

Black-Eyed Susans

The Quilting Arts magazine June/July issue arrived this week and anticipation was high to see Sue's quilt published in the Reader's Challenge.  Imagine her surprise to see it on page 2 along with the Editor's Notes! 

As Vivika notes in the caption, it reminded her of the flowers growing along roadsides in Vermont.  Coincidentally, this little piece was inspired by a photo taken in neighboring New Hampshire!

After finding the great batik background, Sue set out to create a Buds, Blossoms and Blooms quilt of Black-Eyed Susans.  The first step was creating the flowers using Thermofax screen fusible appliques.  There were 2 different flower images made in different sizes for variety.

The flowers were printed, fusible web was applied to the back and then they were cut out individually.

Placement was decided on the background.

Stems were added (also fused).

The top was backed with a fusible fleece for batting and machine stitching was the next step to secure all the flowers and stems.

There was no backing as yet because hand embroidery was the final step and Sue didn't want that stitching to show on the back.  Here is the start of lots of French knots!

And this is the finished quilt, which also includes embroidery stitches on the stems and other parts of the background.  A bright and cheery piece to celebrate summer!

Queen Ann's Lace

This is the description of her quilt that Sue sent to Quilting Arts magazine:
"I love the delicate, ethereal nature of Queen Ann's lace and enjoy using it in my work. Several stages of bloom are printed here, layered over a hand-dyed background and prints of grasses and a crackled texture. All the Thermofax(r) screens used are made from original photos. There are also words written in the background that evoke  the symbolism of the blossoms - bloom, blossom, grow, evolve, reach, unfold. Created with hand-dyed fabric, Thermofax screen printing, and machine quilting."

The words listed above were written first on the hand dyed fabric using a sharpie.  Then the crackle texture was printed, first in a transparent red and then metallic gold.  This is what the crackle screen looks like.  The screen in the Etsy shop is slightly different, but this one can also be ordered by sending a convo, and saying you want the one in the blog post (same size & price).

Next, some grasses were added to the background.  The curly grass screen is also available in the shop.  Then the queen ann's lace was added in various stages of bloom.  There are 4 different screens used in different sizes and variations.  (Two of these are in the Etsy shop.)

Sue briefly considered adding a decorative trim as embellishment at the bottom of the piece, but then decided against it.

It was a good thing, because when the backing was added and a quarter inch was lost all the way around for the seam allowance, it would have covered up too much of the queen ann's lace.  Below is the finished piece once again. The machine quilting mostly follows the lines of the imagery of the crackle, grass and queen ann's lace - click on the photo for a larger view.

Buds, Blossoms and Blooms

Months ago, back in the midst of winter, Quilting Arts magazine announced a Reader's Challenge called Buds, Blossoms and Blooms.  Always up for a challenge, and having had 1 previous submission selected for publication in the December/January issue, Sue decided to submit a quilt for this challenge too.  Actually, having 2 ideas that she couldn't decide between, she decided to make and submit both if they turned out the way she envisioned.  So she set about making two 10" square quilts as specified by the magazine.

Long story short,  at the beginning of February the finalists were announced and Sue found out that both of her quilts were selected!  It was noted that only one might be published in the magazine, while the other could be published online.  Well, the June/July issue is now published (though it has yet to arrive in the mailbox) and Sue just discovered the online extra publications at Quilting Daily and the quilt called Queen Ann's Lace has been published there!  While the link is provided, unless you are a member and sign in, you won't see the picture.  However, you CAN see it here!

In the next post we'll share a few pictures of the creation process.  And hopefully the magazine will arrive in the next few days, at which time we'll share the second piece.  Stay tuned!

Published!!

 Whew!  I'm very excited to announce that I (Sue) have been published for the first time!  A small 8x10 quilt I made for a Quilting Arts Reader's Challenge was selected for publication in the Dec-Jan issue, which is just beginning to arrive in shops and subscribers homes.  I believe the newsstand release date is Dec. 2.  The theme of the challenge was "Changing Seasons" but not just the obvious seasons of the year - also seasons of your life; transitions, transformations, changes that we all go through.  My interpretation was the life change of retirement, against a backdrop of riding off on a motorcycle trip the day after I left work for the last time. 

I started with this photo and used Photoshop Elements to turn it into a black and white image, the same process I use to make an image for a thermofax screen.  Instead of making a screen however, I printed the black & white image onto an inkjet fabric sheet.

Then I used water soluble pastel crayons to  color the image.  I have both Reeves and Derwent colors, but mostly used the Reeves.  

After coloring, I used the Fantastix brushes in the photo with water to blend the colors.  Then I made a thermofax screen of the word "retired" and printed it.

Next was quilting; a variegated thread was used for the trees and leaves, and red around the word "retired".  The binding is fused, a separate piece on each side and then satin stitched through all layers on the inside edge.  Here's the final piece and a close-up.

There's lots of stitching but it really blends in. If you click the picture to enlarge it you might be able to see it better.